Pikes Peak Library District goes overdue fine free

Library working to eliminate financial burdens for patrons

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – Overdue books? Fear not. Pikes Peak Library District will no longer charge you for being a little bit late on your returns.

The library will officially eliminate overdue fines Friday, Feb. 1, just in time for a county-wide celebration of Library Lover’s Month. Patrons will no longer be financially penalized for books that are late in returning to the library.

“Our mission as an organization is to eliminate barriers to information and resources, not create them,” said Director of Library Services Tim Blevins. “We had a trial run of eliminating overdue fines and didn’t see longer hold times for patrons, but did see a positive impact on borrowing. It makes perfect sense for us to permanently eliminate these fines.”

Fines, Blevins says, are particularly prohibitive for the community’s most vulnerable families. Plus, overdue fines accounted for less than one percent of the library’s overall revenue in 2017.

There will still be fees assessed for lost or damaged materials.

Additionally, Pikes Peak Library District will roll out automatic renewals later on in Library Lover’s Month. The day before books are due, the library’s system will automatically renew them up to two times, so long as no other patron placed a hold on the material.

There are some exceptions to the materials that can be automatically renewed, like rapid reads, e-materials, and equipment checkouts.

“What we’ve seen here, and in library facilities across the country, is that by taking these steps to increase ease of access to materials, use of library resources and checkouts is positively impacted,” Blevins said. “We’re here to help people access the resources they need to achieve their goals. This is just one more way for us to do a better job of achieving that mission.”

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Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) is a nationally recognized system of public libraries serving a population of more than 650,000 in El Paso County, Colorado. With 14 facilities, online resources, and mobile library service, PPLD responds to the unique needs of individual neighborhoods and the community at large.